151 



and outwards for the space of an inch, forming the peculiar feature already described in my 

 account of this species (' Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii., p. 203). The hides are of a lustrous 

 coal-black, and are wonderfully expressive in their dark facial setting, with a white eyelid 

 underneath. The legs and feet are greenish-grey with flesh-coloured webs, shaded with brown 

 towards the outer edges. 



This specimen measured : total length 36 in. ; extent of wings 7 ft. 8 in. ; wing from flexure 

 22 in. 



On one of my visits to Wanganui I was invited by the late Mr. Drew, then curator of 

 the museum, to examine and identify a live Albatros which had just come in. The bird proved to 

 be an adult specimen (apparently a female) of Diomedea salvini. Mr. Drew gave me the 

 particulars of its capture, which would seem to indicate that this bird is nocturnal in its 

 habits. A party of fishermen in their boat, at two o'clock the previous morning — the night being- 

 starlight but without any moon — were waiting for the dawn, in order to fish for schnapper. They 

 saw the Albatros hovering about them, and threw out a piece of bait on a line. The bird at once 

 descended to the water, took the hook in its bill, and was towed on board. In this specimen the 

 bill was grey with a yellowish unguis; the black pencilled lines and the yellow cartilage were 

 very conspicuous. 



Captain Hutton wrote to me (11th April, 1902) : " T. salvini is also a bad species. At the 

 very most it might be considered as a variety of T. cautus, but there are some individuals of 

 T. salvini which are absolutely identical with T. cautus. But the membrane on the bill is a bad 

 character." And again: "I think that the only difference, if any, between T. Thalassogeron 

 cautus and D. salvini is in the colour of the head. I think that the difference in the stoutness of 

 the bill must be sexual ; but I should think that Eothschild's fine series ought to settle this 

 point. I shall continue to call the Bounty Island species D. salvini, but I think it would be better 

 to consider it as a variety of T. cautus. Phoebetria fuliginosa is in much the same difficulty. It 

 is the variety cornicoides which breeds on the Antipodes and Auckland Islands, and if this variety 

 does not breed at Kerguelen's Island, nor in the South Atlantic, it deserves to be made into a 

 distinct species." 



The answer to this is that it was after a careful examination of the " fine series," at 

 Tring that Mr. Salvin, without hesitation, pronounced this species distinct, whereupon Mr. 

 Bothschild characterised it and dedicated it to him by name. 



In a later communication Captain Hutton says : " I am convinced that Thalassogeron is 

 a bad genus." I think he is right. At any rate, it seems to me there can be no justification 

 for separating Diomedea bulleri from the others, as was done by Mr. Salvin, the ' Handlist ' 

 following suit. I must either take this out of the genus and place it with Thalassogeron, or 

 restore all the members of this group to Diomedea ; and I have decided on the latter course. 



Mr. Bothschild writes to me (June 13th, 1902) :— 



As regards Thalassogeron salvini, I know that it is close to T. cautus, but Professor Hutton makes a mistake 

 when he says that some T. salvini are true T. cautus, and his mistake is entirely due to working with undated 

 material. Of course, T. cautus occurs on the New Zealand coasts, but not in the breeding season. It was 

 Mr. Salvin who distinguished them (i.e., T. salvini and Diomedea bulleri), and advised me to describe them. 

 Not only did Mr. Salvin concur in the descriptions, but he edited and revised them ; and as to the membrane 

 between the culminicorn and latericorn, that character is entirely his. 



The type of Thalassogeron is T. chlororhynchus, which has the wide membrane ; but I always held that 

 Salvin had split too much. I believe we have really only two genera, Diomedea and Phoebetria. I have 

 fourteen species or forms, out of seventeen named forms, and all in series except D. chionoptera, and I 

 certainly can distinguish each species easily. 



As already mentioned, the breeding haunt of this beautiful species of Albatros is in the 



